Jackson Progress-Argus

After winning rezoning for the part of its proposed Riverview Business Park that lies within Lamar County last month, officials with the Butts County Development Authority are crafting and reviewing development guidelines to steer planning within the park.

The 23-page draft document outlines allowable construction materials, building setbacks, landscaping requirements, storm drainage and grading regulations, and lighting and signage rules, among other areas -- with most requiring pre-approval.

Development Authority Director Laura Hale said she presented the draft to the Development Authority board Friday, with copies also going to the Development Authority of Lamar County and to homeowners in Monroe County who have objected to the development of the site, which sits adjacent to High Falls Lake.

Hale said each group is being given two weeks to review the guidelines and make comments or recommendations.

The Development Authority of Butts County is hoping to lure big-box distribution centers or other such users to the nearly 300-acre site that sits astride the Butts, Lamar and Monroe county lines, southeast of the Interstate 75-Ga. Highway 36 interchange. The authority’s conceptual site plans don’t show the Monroe County portion of the property, about 15 acres, being used, however.

During rezoning hearings in Lamar County last month, homeowners from the High Falls Lake area in Monroe County raised objections to plans for industrial uses at the site, citing concerns about pollution of the lake.

Among the proposed development guidelines are requirements that no more than 85 percent of each tract within the development be covered by buildings and paved surfaces, and that no more 50 percent be covered by buildings.

“We want greenspace and/or tree-space,” Hale said.

The proposed guidelines also call for 100-foot undisturbed buffers along the lake, the Monroe County line and streams on the site.

Also among the proposed development guidelines for the Riverview Business Park are requirements for committee approval of clearing, grading, construction, sign and landscape plans, although the makeup of the committee is not defined.

Hale said the Butts County Development Authority board may choose to define and create such a review committee, or alter the guidelines to eliminate it.

The board is expected to again discuss the industrial park design guidelines at its March meeting, and could act to adopt them in April, Hale said.